Rope socket



. c. SUNDERLAND ROPE SOCKET Filed Nov. 17, 1926 %Kua Patented Aug. 16,1927. i

UNITED -STATES ene-,236

VPATEN'T- OFFICE.

:menus c. sUNDEnnAND, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSY, ASSIGNOB'TE JOHN A. BOEB-LING'S SONSOOMPAN'Y, OF TRENTON,

mssn?.

NEW JERSEY, ,a COBZPOBATION or NEW non: sooner.

Application filed November 17, 1926. serial lfo. 148,808.

.This invention relates to improvements in rope sockets. V

It is the especial object of the present invention to provide a ropesocket of the sliding wedge type, which shall not only be comparativelysmall as Compared with prior sockets of this 'type as designed for usewith the larger sizes of wre ropes, but which shall have a highereflioiency than such prior sockets and hold the ropes under tensionsmore closely approaching the ultimate strength of the ropes thanheretofore, while at the same time avoiding abuse of the strand wires inany part of the socket.

In prior sockets of this type it has been the general customtoproportion the length of the socket sheath in direct ratio to thediameter of the rope with which the socket was to berused, and asgenerally constructed the length of thesocket sheath in such priorsockets was at least five times the diameter of the rope; that is, witha 1 rope, a socket sheath at least 5" in lengthwas considereclnecessary, for a 2" rope a socket sheath at least 10 in length, and soon. Under normal Operating conditions, wire ropes 'are as a rulesubjected to only about one-fourth' of their ultimate strength, and suchproportioning of the prior sockets was hased on such conditions of use.As a matter of fact, however, there are many instances where such ropes,and especially the larger sizes of ropes, are subject/ed to tensione farin excess of the above tension. :in these larger sizes of: wire ropes itis customary, also, in order to retain as far as possible thefiexibilityci the' rope., to increase the number of wires perstrand, rather thanincrease the size of the individual strand wires proportionately to thesize of the rope. This quality of fiexibility is, of course, mostimportalit where these ropes are used with small drums or sheaves. Thelive end of the rope in such prior soclets is depended on solely orchiefly to Carry the load, and this results in over-compression of andinjury to the strands. This is especially sq with the larger sizes ofropes, so that, for eX- ample, if a 2" rope is to be subjected totensions closely epproaching the ultimate strength of the rope, a socketsheath for such a rope, to avoid such over-compression and injury,should be at least ?four times as long as that required 'for a 1 rope,or at least long, which is obviously impractical from 'a commercialstandpoint( Briefly stated, the present socket comprises means forlimitin the pressure of the wedge member on the live end of the rope, sothat a 'largepartof the load is transferred to the base of the wedge andthe dead end and the novel features of the inventionthen be ponted outin ,the claims.

' In the drawings 'Figire 1 is a side elevation, partially in section,of the improved socket as it appears in use under no or light tension;

Figures 2 and 3 are' sections on the lines 2-2 andB-, respectively, ofFig. i; Figures 4 and 5 are Views similar to Figs. 11 and' 2, of thesocket sheath without the wedge, and

Figures 6 and 7 are, respectively a side elevation partially in section,and an edge view looking to the left in Fig. 6, of the wedge meniber.

'Referring now to the' drawings, and par-.- ticularly l `igs. 1 to 3, Aindicates a socket sheath provided with the usual securing eye 10 andgroove ll for the live end of the rope. The opposite wall of the sheathis inclined, as usual, and has formed on the inner side thereof a groove13 of less depththa'nthe 'groove 11, and which, if desired, may be givena shape like that shown to pernt spreadng of' the rope end underpressure and thus secure a largerholding surface. v The groove 11 ispreferably semicircular in cross-section,f as shown, and of a size tosnugly fit the rope to be attached to the socket. The Shea-th' A shouldbe of such thiclmess that when the groove 11 is formed therein,shoulders'br stops 1, of substantial -thickness, will be provided lyingparallel to the sides of the groove,`for a pur ose hereinafterdescribed'. i`hese stops pre erably are in line with the socket eye 10,as shown, but this is not essential, The slid- 70 connection with theaccoinpanying drawin'gs,

shoulders or stops 1 and 2, lying oppositive ing wedge member B, whichas usual is ar-' ranged to loosely fit within the sheath, is providedwith a groove 15 of the same shape as groove 11,' the roove 15 extendingentirely around the e ge of the wedge member with the exception of thenarrow end portion. If properly proportioned, the wed e B will besufliciently thick to provi e shoulders or stops 2 lying parallel to thegroove 15, the grooves 11 and 15 and the each other, respectively, whenthe parts are assembled. The wedge B is preferably of a size withrespect to the sheath so that when a rope C is attached to the socket itwill occupy approximately the position shown in Fig. 1, that is with thestops 1, 2 on the live rope side of the socket, only slightly separated.

'With the p'arts formed as shown and described, it will be clear thatwhen a rope of the pro er size is attached to the socket, as shown, orexample, in Fig. 1, the shoulders 1, 2 on the sheath and wedge,respectively, at the live rope side of the socket, will be but slightlyseparated, and less so than the shoulders at the opposite side 14 of thesocket in which the dead end of the rope is held. In the bestembodiments of the invention, the proportioning of the socket parts withrespect to the ro e diameter should be such that the shoul ers or stops1, 2 on the live rope side of the socket will meet when a predeterminedtension or load on the rope is reached. This action may be varied, asabove described, but the stops 1, 2, for the best results, should meetwhen the tension or load on the rope has reached about one-fourth of theultimate strength of the rope, so that compression of the strand wireson the live end of the rope will then cease before there is danger ofshearing or breaking the same. When the stops 1, 2 thus meet, the largerportion 'of the tension on the rope will be transferred to the base of'the wedge member and the dead end of the rope. Excellent results aresecured with the socket parts designed so that approximately only 25% ofthe rope tension will be imposed on the live end of the rope in thesocket, while of such tension will be transferred to the rope at thebase of the wedge, and the remaining load, orrabout 25% thereof, will becarried by the dead end of the rope, but'other distribution of the loadmay be used. The' sheath and wedge are shown of uniform taperthroughout, but the common practice of different tapers on the wedge andsheath may be 'followed, if desired; i

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to usewith wire ropes made up of a plurality of strands which are formed ofsmaller wires, but that it may be used with advantage with other typesof ropes or cables, such as cables consisting of but a single strand,and that various changes in the Construction and arrangement of theparts shown and described may be made While still retaining theinvention defined by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A rope socket, consisting of a plurality of members movablerelatively to each other and arranged to grip a rope between them, andmeans for limiting the gripping pressure of said members on a portion ofthe gripped surface of the rope to distribute the load on differentparts of the rope.

2. A rope socket, consisting of an outer member, an inner member movablymounted therein and arranged to co-operate with said outer member togrip a rope at a plurality of points, and stops adjacent a portion ofthe gripping surface for limiting the gripping pressure of the socketmembers at said surface to distribute the load on different parts of therope. i

3. A rope socket, consisting of a sheath, a movable wedge mountedtherein and arranged to co-operate with the sheath to gri a rope, andsto s between said sheath an wedge for limiting the gripping pressure onthe live end of the rope.

4. A rope socket, consisting of a sheath, a movable wedge mounted insaid sheath and arranged to co-operate therewith to grip a rope, stopsbetween the sheath and wedge at the live end of the rope arranged toabut to limit the gripping pressure on the live end of the ro e, andgrippin surfaces arranged to hol the dead end o the rope and supportpart of the load.

5. A rope socket, consisting of a sheath, a wedge movable therein, oovesin said sheath and wedge at opposite sides of the socket arranged togrip the live and dead ends of a rope, respectively, and stops on oposite sides of the grooves at one side of tl e socket for limiting thegripping pressure on th ive end of the rope.

6. A ope socket, consisting of a sheath, a mova le wedge mounted in saidsheath and arr nged to co-operate therewith to grip a ro at its live anddead ends, means for 'seating the rope on the wedge base between saidgripped portions of the rope, and stops arranged between the, wedge andsheath for limiting the gripping pressure on the live end of the rope. 4

7. A rope socket, consisting of a sheath having rope seating groovestherein, a wedge mounted in said sheath and havin a groove arranged toco-operate with sai sheath grooves for gripping a rope at` its live anddead ends and for positioning such ro e on the `wedge base intermediatethe gripped parts of the rope, and stops between the sheath and wedgearranged to abut and limit the gripping pressure on the live end of the'ope when a p 'edeter- I mined load on therope reached.

8. A rope socket, consistng of a. sheath, a, wedge mountedxin saidsheath, shouldered grovesin'the sheath and wed'ge arranged to grip thelive and' dead ends of a. rope, means'for seatin a rop'e on the wedgebase intermediate sai gripping surfaces, said shoulders the grippingpressure rope and to the base of t being arranged to &but and limit onthe live end of the 10 transfer part of the load e wedge and the deadend thereb of the rope.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

CHARLES '0. SUNDERLAND.

